05 April 2019 - Is Brexit affecting mental health in the UK?
How Brexit is affecting mental health
(The Week, 13/03/2019)
The limbo of an uncertain Brexit is damaging not only the nation’s economy but also the mental well-being of its people, according to health experts.
Uncertainty over the future of businesses in Britain and the rights and status of EU nationals following the UK’s scheduled departure from the bloc have contributed to the malaise. And the situation has become even more chaotic following the defeat of Theresa May’s Brexit deal in a Commons vote this week.
The founder of the In Limbo project, which seeks to represent EU nationals in Britain, told The Independent that there had been an increase in the number of people expressing suicidal thoughts on the group’s Facebook page.
Brexit STRAIN: Dragged out EU exit is a ‘BREEDING GROUND’ for mental health issues
Alice Scarsi (Express, 23/03/2019)
Brexit is putting strain on the mental health of many in Great Britain, as well as British expats living in the European Union. The prolonged uncertainty surrounding the future relationship between Brussels and London, as well as the lack of control voters have over such a disruptive process, are triggers for mental health issues, according to expert Noel McDermott.
And it comes as the EU exit faces being dragged out for weeks, or maybe even years, more.
The mental health expert explained fear, uncertainty, stress and conflict can destabilise an individual’s mental wellbeing - and the three-year-long Brexit process evokes in many some or all of these feelings.
Six in 10 Britons say Brexit uncertainty bad for mental health
Peter Walker (The Guardian, 02/04/2019)
The depth of British anxiety over Brexit has been revealed by research showing that more than six in 10 people believe the ongoing uncertainty is bad for mental health.
A poll of 2,004 people carried out late last week by the research company Britain Thinks found that a significant majority of the public are bored and confused by the Brexit process and have very little trust in politicians to sort it out.
It found that 83% of people were sick of seeing Brexit on the news every day, 64% believed the attendant anxiety was bad for people’s mental health, and more than two-thirds felt Brexit became more confusing the more they heard about it.
Civil servants offered counselling for no-deal Brexit stress
Joe Miller (BBC, 04/04/2019)
The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) spent £40,000 on counselling services in London, York and Bristol.
The surgeries were primarily for those working on "emergency preparedness in case of a no deal scenario".
The government said the well-being of its staff was "always a priority".
The three-month contract, which was awarded to Gloucester-based employee assistance firm Care First, was brought to the BBC's attention by the data firm Tussell.
Brexit stress has caused one MP to lose 4inches from his waist
Claire Gilbody-Dickerson (Metro, 03/04/2019)
Huw Merriman, who represents Bexhill and Battle, said he has lost four inches from his waistline and has started seeing a therapist to deal with the volley of abuse directed at him from Brexiteers. Merriman, who is Chancellor Philip Hammond’s parliamentary private secretary, told BBC Radio 5 Live: ‘I’ve lost a lot of weight. I’ve gone from over a 34 to almost under a 30 now, and that’s purely down to what’s going on.’
The MP, who backed a confirmatory referendum on any final Brexit deal during indicative votes on Monday night, said: ‘Today I’m getting a heck of a lot of abuse because of the way I voted yesterday, even though I tried to explain the way I voted.
Mr Merriman made the remarks this morning after yet another parliamentary attempt to agree an alternative to Theresa May’s Brexit deal failed.